Happy Memorial Day!

Never far from my mind...is the reason we have all of the freedoms that we have today.

Never far from my mind is what some people have had to give up, in order to make sure we could have all we have today.

Never far from my mind, is the fact that some are missing their loved ones, today, so we can keep the freedoms that we have today.

In appreciation, and honor.

Happy Memorial Day!

Raelyn

A New Bathroom Wall

I have been working in our main bathroom.

I wanted to change out the colors, and make it a little LESS "kiddish"...and a little more, welcoming.

So, I got some new towels, and rugs, and a couple little decorations.

Then I found this super cute vinyl quote...and thought it would go great in the room!

Some measuring...and a little guessing...

Some pictures...

Towels...

SO FAR.......It looks really nice!

I really, really like it!!!!

My next project in this room, will be to frame the mirror, which is all the rage now......

I think it would pretty much finish the look for me....

I mean I would really LOVE me a whirlpool tub, and a gorgeous lifted bowl sink....but...that isn't going to happen....SOOOOOO I have settle on what I CAN make happen. :)

Raelyn

End of the Year Teacher Gift

Preschool has come to a close in our neck of the woods.
We needed to do little gifts for Little's teachers.
So, after looking for a while (knowing I was going to do Starbucks gift cards) we decided to make a little basket for each of her teachers, with a BIRDHOUSE theme.
Cute, right??????

So we found these DARLING birdhouses at Michael's.
$1.00

We picked 4 colors of acrylics, and Little went to town!

She worked so hard and concentrated on both of them.
It was really cute!
When she was all done, we let them dry. We sprinkled a little glitter on top...
I sprayed on two layers of glaze so that they were weather proof.

And.....VIOLA!!!!
SO CUTE!

We wrote a little message on the bottom which was also glaze sealed.

We found both of the little oval buckets at Michael's for 50% off...making then $2.49

The rest of the items are all matching birdhouse themed notepads, magnets, cards key chain, bookmark from the dollar spot at Michael's.

We also added Seattle's Best truffle chocolates in a pretty little bag

Along with their card (which included pictures of Little) and giftcard.

The teachers LOVED the baskets and both said they SO appreciated the hand touch of the painted birdhouse!

Raelyn

A closet REDO!!!

My two youngest kids, have RIDICULOUSLY small closets!
This WAS middle's closet.....
He is 6 and, his clothes have been getting too big for the double clothes rod...soooooo....
I have been wanting to make over his closet for awhile....
{actually, his whole room will be redone this throughout the summer}
I mean, really....It appears to have the qualities of a closet that could be organized....
but seriously, LET'S NOT FOOL OURSELVES...

THIS
is what came out of it!
(and there is more to the left that is NOT in the picture)

So I started by removing everything....which took WAY longer then one would imagine!
Then I took out all of the rods and organizing shelves...

Then removed the upper shelf, as I felt it was set too low.
I patched...
Let dry...

Finally I sanded.
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So this summer, we are painting his room blue on the top half, and brown on the bottom half, with chair rail in the middle.
I thought, what a great place to test it out and see how we liked it...
I mean, who says a closet can't be pretty!
Here goes....

Lovin' the blue...

REALLLLLLLLLLY love the brown!!!

Added chair rail, mainly for fun....and patched.
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Added a regular clothes bar, and the supports for the shelf.
***
Put in the shelf...about 51/2 inches then the original.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!
(I Still need to paint the actual DOOR...and frame.
It will be white.)
**For now, pay no attention. ;)**
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Clothes in...

I put in an over-the-door shoe organizer...
which houses his shoes, sandals, slippers, hats, and gloves.

A 6 hole cubbie from Target, with 3 canvas boxes, hold some of his toys, that are not played with everyday.
There is room for his rain boots on the one side.

I got these 3 baskets from Michael's for 50% off on sale.
One has summer shorts and tank tops...
One has miscellaneous off-season sports materials...
One is just miscellaneous...with a backpack, and some things he needs to grown into.

I made the little labels for each of the baskets, because you can't see what is in them.

Plus, it adds some cuteness!

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I cannot even begin to describe how wonderful it is to open the closet!

Middle knows exactly where things go, and he has actually been playing with all of it more often as well!

It is a little haven in his room. :)

I can't wait until I do the whole room like it....
after school is out...that is the project!

Thanks for looking!

Linking up to:

Raelyn

This is just a cute little birthday idea...
When my daughter turned 17 it was a school day...which means that I wouldn't see her in the morning as high school starts at ridiculous hours of the morning.

So, to make it special for her, until we could celebrate...I did a few little things.
I decorated her bathroom mirror, and I left a trail of little goodies to her bathroom door....
But then I also made this for her lunch...

My kids have Laptop lunch boxes, which come with these AWESOME hard plastic containers for food.
So being that I made her a peanut butter and lettuce sandwich...(ummmmm, ueah, one of her favorites....) I thought I would write, in peanut butter, on top of the sandwich.
I ust used the tip cut off of a ziplock baggie.....

It turned out really cute and because of the containers it stayed intact as well.
She came home saying everyone thought it was really cool.

It was just a little thing that would be a little surprise on her day.
At her age...those things matter most.

Raelyn

Soccer cupcakes...

It's the end of our indoor soccer season around here.
Middle had a great year!
He is really good!

I always make treats on the last game day. I LOVE to bake...and since we aren't allowed to bake anything for the schools anymore, I take advantage of it where I can :)
So on the final game day, we have pizza, hand out the pictures and trophies...and have something yummy! :)
*******
Anyway......
I thought they turned out REALLY cute, so I wanted to pass their design along.

It is just a basic white cupcake mix...
My frosting is a butter based frosting...and yes, I do mean butter. Stay away from margarine. Bad stuff.

*2 cups powdered sugar
*1/2 stick butter
*1 1/2 vanilla or almond flavoring
*2 TBS hot water
{then to make the chocolate...just add 2 TBS of unsweetened cocoa powder to a separated part of the frosting.}

Beat it all together.
When you think you are done...beat some more.
It will get nice and fluffy and airy, if it is done right.

I simply frosted with the white frosting.
Then I put the chocolate in a ziplock bag...cut the corner off, and decorated.

They took a little time, but the kids went crazy when they saw them!

Go ahead, DON'T BE ASHAMED, WIPE THE DROOL!
Raelyn
I HAVED LINKED UP WITH.....

Our Windowsill Garden

So we have a vegetable garden outside for the first time this year.
We planted tomatoes, sugar snap peas, basil, cilantro, cumcumber, carrots, squash...and then strawberries and blueberries as well.
Most of what we planted were from starters...The kids LOVE to go out to see what changes have happened or what improvements our starters have made.

SO......I thought I would teach them from scratch...
seed by seed, with their own hands.
That way, they could witness the stages...that will eventually land on our table.

My kids LOVE vegetables.
From the time they were babies I fed them fresh foods in all of the colors of the rainbow.
We would try, and try again, until eventually most things became a part of our weekly menu.
Don't get me wrong...with each child there are a few things that only go down with a fight...
But I think, that for the most part my kids are very well-rounded in that department.

I thought having their own little windowsill garden, would be fun for them to learn from.
Where they pick what to plant...then watch it from first sprout, to stir-fry.

My kids planted every seed themselves...

(Yes...my sons nails are painted. I did a manicure for my daughter...and he wanted to try it too...so we did it for fun. **You KNOW you are lovin' the color**!!!!)

They picked parsely, chives and basil.

Green pepper, yellow tomato and grape tomato.

They talked to each other about which seeds would go where.

We talked about how many seeds to put in each of the little dirt pads.

We read about how long it would take for each to sprout.

It was a REALLY FUN project!

This sat in our windowsill for FIVE.....yes FIVE days....

And THIS is what we have now...
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Talk about quick gratification!

Raelyn

Oven Roasted Broccoli

Have you tried oven roasting your broccoli???
YUMMMMY!!!

Most people steam broccoli, I do believe...but oven roasting gives it a totally different dimension!
Kind of a nutty flavor, and it is soooooo good!

I just used about a Tablespoon or so of OLIVE OIL
Tossed all of my florets in a bowl with the olive oil.
I added..
Salt, pepper, two fresh cloves of garlic, and some Parmesan cheese.

It is all to taste, so you kind of have to go by your own tastes...
Then I laid it out in a glass cake pan.
Baked it at 350, for about 10-12 minutes.

It was really good...and still a little crisp.
If you don't like it that way, you could just leave it in a little longer.

It was nice, because after prep...you just throw it in the oven and forget it until the timer goes off...rather then being on the stovetop whistling away at you.

Really a nice change of pace if you haven't tried it!
Raelyn

Sunshine....finally on Mother's Day!

It couldn't have been a more perfect day.
This Mother's Day.
Look at that sky!
This is our new yard, that has just taken formation in the last month.
And it is beautiful!

It feels serene and happy.
It finally feels like spring.
Flowers.
Seeds.
Gurgling fountains.

Dirt.
Mulch.
NEW LIFE!

Painted toes.
No socks.
Flip flops.

Ahhhhh, sunshine.
Happy Spring!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Raelyn

How to boil and peel the PERFECT egg

I love me a good hard boiled egg.

Especially in a really good salad.

Sometimes though...peeling those eggs is a frustrating experience.
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This is an egg from around Easter time (obviously)...
Here are the rules I use for boiling an egg...

Use a large enough pan for how many eggs you will be boiling.
You just need enough water to cover the eggs fully.
Put the eggs in the water while it is cold...
Add a couple pinches of salt
Bring to a soft rolling boil.
Put the cover on the pan and turn the heat off.
Leave for 12 minutes! Do not remove the cover.
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They will be perfect every time!
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**Now, to peel the eggs after they are cooled down

--Crack the egg softly on the counter

--Roll the egg along the counter, so as to crack it all of the way around.

--Now use a spoon, and jimmy it under the shell and under that protective clear liner that is under the shell.

--slowly work the spoon around the egg.

--Sometimes I can literally get the shell of in one piece, but usually there are a few pieces.

--Most of the time the shell will come off easily and smoothly.

However, I won't pretend that is all of the time. It isn't fool-proof, sometimes it doesn't come off smoothly, and it takes some of the beautiful white with it. In these times though, I have determined that it would have been even worse if I had just peeled it.

One way or the other, it works better with this trick!

Seriously.....
The perfect egg!

Linked up to:

Todays Creative Blog

AND

Life In The Pitts

AND

Just a Girl

AND

House of Hepworths

Raelyn